1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to the process of starch production in plants.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
It is an object of the invention to effect a change in the nature of the starch produced in a plant without reducing, or without substantially reducing, the amount of starch which the plant produces. Starch is used in the food, chemical, paper and textile industries. In these industries the nature of a starch affects its suitability for use in a particular process.
It has been reported that potato plants have been transformed to produce antisense RNA from a gene construct containing starch synthase cDNA in reverse orientation, and that this gave rise to tubers containing amylose-free starch. See "Inhibition of the expression of the gene for granule-bound starch synthase in potato by antisense constructs", R. G. F. Visser et al, Mol. Gen. Genet. (1991) 225: 289-296.
In the mutant form of maize known as waxy maize the process for producing amylose is suppressed and thereby the total amount of starch which is produced is less than is the case with maize not embodying the waxy gene.